2008 Texas Tech Red Raiders
Written June 25, 2008 by Jason Lowry
We are only a couple months away from the beginning of another NCAA football season, and Jason Lowry is ready to make his 2008 Texas Tech Red Raiders football predictions. The Red Raiders are coming off a pretty successful season where they finished up 9-4 including 31-28 win over Virginia in the Gator Bowl. The Red Raiders have the most returning starters of any team in the Big 12 with 18, and head coach Mike Leach could very well be thinking his team is good enough to win the Big 12 South this season. There is plenty to like about this team, and even with all the talent they got coming back its going to be tough to climb past both Oklahoma and Texas Tech this season. Lets take a look at what you can expect out of the Red Raiders on both sides of the ball in 2008.
Offense:
This unit returns 10 starters so you can pretty much expect another high flying year from a team that led the Big 12 with 513 yards per game a year ago. The reason that this offense put up such big numbers has a lot to do with senior Graham Harrell who threw for 5,705 yards and 48 touchdowns a year ago. It helps that he has arguably the best receiver in college football in sophomore Michael Crabtree, who tore up defenses as a freshman for 134 receptions 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns. Its hard to imagine those numbers going up even more, but we don’t know who is going to stop him. Harrell will also have pretty good options in junior Edward Brittion and senior Eric Morris. The team runs a lot of 4 wide receiver sets and look for sophomore Detron Lewis to step in this season. Though the team doesn’t run that often, there is talk that sophomore Baron Batch will put together a pretty solid season for the Red Raiders at running back. The team returns all 5 starters on the offensive line, and should have one of the best lines in the Big 12. The team has some major talent in senior left tackle Rylan Reed and senior left guard Louis Vasquez, not to mention junior right guard Brandon Carter is no slouch himself.
Defense:
The defense is bringing back most of the starters from a year ago, as 8 are expected to be back in the starting lineup in 2008. It looks like the team will have one of the better defensive lines this season with 4 returning starters, and it should be able to put up some big time numbers. Junior defensive end Brandon Williams led the team ago with 6 sacks, and they are expecting a big years out of junior McKinner Dixon and senior Jake Ratliff at the other defensive end spot. The team did lose one of their starting linebackers from a year ago, but they are expecting sophomore Bront Bird to fill in on the strong side nicely. Not to mention weak side linebacker Marlon Williams has the most tackles coming back from last season, and sophomore middle linebacker Brian Duncan is one of the best the Big 12 has to offer. The secondary was hit the hardest as it only returns two starters, but junior cornerback Jamar Wall is one of, if not the best the Big 12 has to offer at the position. Look for senior Marcus Bunton to step in at the other corner spot, and senior Anthony Hines to join fellow senior Darcel McBath at the safety spot.
Prediction: 2nd in the Big 12 South
This is a team that would likely walk through the North side, but as it stands they are just a step behind Oklahoma, as we got the Sooners able to score with them and having the better defense of the two. We do give the Red Raiders the edge over in-state rival Texas, as we got both teams finishing right around 6-2 in the conference, but we got Tech beating Texas at home on Nov. 1. There is a chance that the Red Raiders can prove me wrong, as they get a shot at Oklahoma on Nov. 22, but they will have to win at Memorial Stadium and thats not an easy thing to do.
If you are looking for other team previews from the Big 12 or any other conference be sure our archives, or check back later, as professional handicapper Jason Lowry continues to make his run through some of the best teams and conferences in the country. Also if you are looking to get a jump start on the upcoming football betting season, head over to Bodoglife.com and get an account going today.
